Students from across the U.S. will head to Vandal country Saturday for the University of Idaho’s annual UIdaho Bound recruitment event.
Angela Helmke, the associate director of campus visits and events, organizes UIdaho Bound. She said she believes the event is the best way for admitted students to connect with their campus.
“It’s designed for admitted students to feel ready to come to UI in the fall as a confident, full-fledged Vandal,” Helmke said. “We provide information sessions for them on topics that might be relevant at this stage. We provide a variety of tour options so they can get to know campus. The Library, the Recreation Center, Student Media all have tour options.”
Helmke also said there are student clubs and information available to help students find a place where everyone can feel involved.
“It’s a great opportunity to get involved, see where they maybe fit in in the Vandal community,” Helmke said. “And also, to learn more about the student resources available to them.”
Danielle Anthony, the marketing coordinator for Housing and Residence Life, said UIdaho Bound is an advantageous time to sign up for housing because of the availability, convenient timing and opportunities for touring the facilities.
“People can sign up for housing,” Anthony said. “They get our housing brochure, price sheets, dining information and we are free to answer any specific questions people may have about living as a Vandal.”
Anthony said she believes this should be the most exciting time for prospective students, because they are right on the cusp of the college experience.
“I think it’s a really exciting time for students who are coming in,” Anthony said. “Maybe their parents didn’t go to college, so they’re coming here and don’t know what to expect. And I feel completely confident in our team to take the students in, assure them and make them feel at home.”
Karen Estrada, a UI freshman majoring in biology and pre-medicine, said she learned about UIdaho Bound during spring break of her senior year in high school. She said her parents took the liberties of signing her up and driving eight hours to the Palouse.
“The very first day was crazy,” Estrada said. “We started at the Kibbie Dome. People were running around everywhere — UI did a great job organizing and making it easy to find our way around everything. I clearly remember smiling faces greeted my parents and I at the entrance.”
Estrada said that during her UIdaho Bound experience, she registered for classes, got her Vandal ID and went to the Vandal Store to get some gear to show her school spirit.
“I looked back at what I had just done, and I realized I was set on the path as a first-generation college student,” Estrada said. “I knew that my parents were so proud.”
Estrada said one of the biggest benefits offered by UIdaho Bound is simply the public forum to meet new friends.
“What really made it beneficial was that I was with so many other freshmen gearing themselves for a new chapter in their lives,” Estrada said. “And we all kind of came together to freak out about the same things. (That) gave me the sense of not being alone.”
Estrada said she was elated to discover she’d be roommates with a person she met during UIdaho Bound. Since then, Estrada said they’ve become close friends.
“We have gotten so close that we actually signed a lease for an apartment together for fall 2018,” Estrada said.
She said she’ll be on the other side of the UIdaho Bound experience this year, volunteering her time to help new students with the same questions and anxieties she once had.
“This year for UIdaho Bound, I actually am helping the class under me go through the same process I did a year ago,” Estrada said. “Funny how time flies. I highly recommend for upcoming U of I freshmen to participate. It seems long at times — but trust me, the minute you come back in the summer to move in, you’ll feel at ease knowing that you have everything set and you know your college campus enough to explore it more.”
Andrew Ward can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @WardOfTheWorlds